Of Fire and Rane
by Damion-Black
Summary: Axel is a student at Twilight Academy, a boarding school where a students true skills are taken into consideration. To Axel, it feels like just another high school filled with drama, ridiculous reputations and girls. But all that changes when a transfer student arrives. Her name is Rane and she can turn our Red haired hero, into a red haired puddle of mush. DISCONTINUED (for now)
1. The Calm Before The Storm

**For Kaylan,**

**for without whom, there would be no Rane**

**and for my readers,**

**for without whom there would be no story**

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**Foreword: You probably don't want to read this story. I know that sounds like a strange thing for an author to say but I'm saying it anyways. If you haven't read any of my other work, you may not want to start here. My first two stories are: Battered Hearts and Better Endings, and Black Butler III: The Unrecorded Contracts. I began writing this story in the ending stages of Battered Hearts and Better Endings. I had written it for a good friend of mine who was more enthusiastic about my work than I had expected. I asked for her three favorite characters in Kingdom Hearts and from there, I ran with it. But as I continued to write, I grew nervous. It wasn't like anything I had written before. Romance and humor isn't a genre I'm used to. But my friends liked it. Kaylan REALLY liked it. So it gave me the confidence I needed to post this here for you. I hope you enjoy it just as well. And as always, thank you.**

**-D.B.**

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"How do I look?" Axel turned to face Riku, who was lounging back on his bed with a book open. Peering up from the book, Riku's eyebrows shot up.

"You look like a priest from hell." He said flippantly.

Axel's normally shaggy red hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail that exploded into spikes behind the tie. He wore a black suit jacket and a white shirt with matching slacks. He was still working the knot on his tie. Giving up, Axel let it hang loose from his neck.

"You are by far the worst roommate in the history of this school." He replied with an unamused glare.

By this point you must be thoroughly confused. Let me back up a bit. Does a week sound good? I think so. Let's start there.

Axel flung his dorm room door open and nearly nailed another student with its brass knob. His arms stretched over his head, he was dressed in his normal school uniform. White shirt, black slacks and a matching jacket. His hair was messy as usual over his vibrant green eyes. His roommate, Riku, pushed past him in a half-asleep attempt to get to class. His white grey hair wasn't quite as long or wild as Axel's but it still made him look like the school "bad-ass."

The hall was as you would expect in a boarding school. Tile flooring, lined with dorm rooms on either side of the hall. A high ceiling that showed a few of the wood beams that held it all together and a few skylights every few feet. The hall was filled with students heading in various directions, mostly for the same reason.

"Hey guys!" Came a shout from down the hall. The call had come from a shorter boy with spiked brown hair.

"Morning, Sora." Axel called back when the boy finally reached them. Riku muttered something that could be taken as a greeting as well.

"Did you guys hear the news?" Asked Sora. Axel arched an eyebrow.

"Hear what news? We just got up, literally." He said the last while nudging Riku who had dozed off against the wall beside him. Riku nearly fell over but woke up just in time to catch himself.

"Classes are canceled today. All of them!" The boy replied excitedly. Riku, now a little more awake, rubbed the heels of his palms in his eyes.

"Any specific reason why?" He asked. Sora shook his head.

"Dunno, but they sent a text message to everyone's phones to tell us. Wait, why didn't you guys get the message?"

"No we kinda slept in." Axel grinned and pushed Riku again, this time Riku fell onto his hands.

"Exhibit A." Axel explained. Riku, Stood and dusted himself off, throwing a glare at his roommate.

"Well if there's no class, I'm going back to bed." He said pushing past Axel again who stepped aside this time.

Axel eyed Sora's clothes. The shorter boy was dressed in black shorts and a matching over shirt left open revealing a blue under shirt and a crown necklace.

"I guess this explains why you're not in uniform." Sora smiled and shrugged in response.

"Let me get changed, then meet me out front. We can go into town finally." Axel said turning back into his room. Sora agreed and scampered off, lively as ever into the thinning crowd.

Axel shut his door and set to changing out of his uniform. When finished, he wore a pair of loose black jeans and a grey t-shirt. Picking up his wallet and keys he saw his phone glow with a new message. It was the text everyone else had gotten earlier, followed by a second message from Larxene.

-We still on for tonight?-

Axel replied with a simple "yes" and clicked off the screen stuffing the phone in his pocket. Axel picked up one more thing before heading out. He pulled a pair of riding goggles around his neck where they hung loose.

Outside the school, students were already putting their day off to good use. They sat in the shade of trees reading, talking, and if they were a couple, making out. Axel ducked away from an incoming frisbee. The girl that threw it called out an apology but Axel just waved it off as no big deal.

"Ready to go?" Sora asked from the end of the sidewalk. He held a long board almost as tall as he was.

"You're not really going to make me pull you on that thing right?" Axel groaned.

"Hey not everyone has a license you know." Sora replied defensively. With a sigh, Axel shrugged.

"Just watch out for the exhaust pipe this time. I don't wanna fry you again like last time."

Axel swung one leg over the seat of his motorcycle and fired up the engine. The sound filled the courtyard gaining him a few glances. The bike was slim but held more power than most cars in the school. The red paint job was sleek and unblemished with flames blazing down the sides. He revved the engine twice and pulled his goggles up over his eyes. With Sora clutching the tail of the bike, the two sped off to town, taking the side streets to keep from getting pulled over.

"Let's head to Traverse plaza!" Sora shouted over the growling engine. Axel nodded and turned easily down another street that would take them to the center of town. Traverse plaza was the center of everything. It had a mall, park and the occasional tourist trap. All-in-all it was the perfect place to go on an unexpected vacation. The off-kilter architecture of the surrounding buildings gave the whole area a kind of amusement park feel.

The boys arrived only a moment later. There was an exceedingly low crime rate in the area so Sora left his board beside the motorcycle and walked away.

"So what did you want to come here for?" Asked Axel. He wasn't given the response he had expected, but it wasn't exactly unexpected either.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed and bolted down the street. A short red haired girl ran towards him as well and the two latched onto each other like magnets.

"Of course." Axel sighed rolling his eyes at them.

Kairi wasn't a student at Twilight academy like the others but that didn't stop her from stealing Sora away any chance she got. On more than one occasion, Sora had snuck out at night to meet up with her. Axel knew about it but couldn't hold it against him seeing as Axel had done the same for a few other women at the school every so often.

"If you two keep that up you'll suck each other's face off." Axel joked. The couple pulled reluctantly away and Kairi smiled up at him.

"What's the matter Axel? Jealous?" She teased.

"Yeah. You keep stealing my man." He teased back. Sora opened his mouth but couldn't find his voice. Instead he flushed almost as red as his friends hair. Kairi laughed and kissed Sora's cheek comfortingly.

"Well I guess you'll have to get used to it." She said with a smile.

"So, what's next?" Kairi asked cheerfully. It had been three hours since the trio had met in the plaza and since then, they had browsed several stores for nothing in particular, eaten ice cream, and gone to see a movie. Axel shrugged in response. Just then his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Well Riku is finally awake. He wants me to help him study for his final." Axel said while texting his reply.

"Can I trust you to get him home tonight?" He asked. Sora glared at him.

"I'll be fine Axel. Go on." Sora shooed him away and took Kairi's hand. Axel said his goodbyes and drove home.

"No, strike up, strike left then block! It's not that hard." Riku instructed for the 800th time. Axel adjusted the fencing mask over his face and tried to follow the steps again.

"I don't see why Sora isn't helping you with this. I'm not even in fencing." He complained.

"Because Sora is busy and you're not." Riku replied stepping back from the high strike again.

Axel stumbled again and missed his mark.

"Wait a second." He dropped the tip of his foil to the ground.

"You don't really need help with this. Sora got you to call me away so he could be alone with Kiari didn't he?"

"Took you long enough." Axel pulled off his mask and tucked it under his arm.

"You guys suck." He said. Riku pulled off his own mask. It was obvious there wouldn't be anymore so called training today.

"Larxene is still waiting for you tonight anyways so what are you complaining about?" Riku reminded him. They tucked away the equipment neatly in a large gym bag which Riku slung over one shoulder.

"I'm complaining because he could have just said 'hey I wanna go on a date with Kairi' and I would have left." Riku shook his head.

"You and I both know it's not just a date." He said with a smirk.

"Listen I'm really sorry I lied. He was just afraid you'd be hurt if he just kicked you to the curb." Riku tried his best to be easy. He knew that Axel was tough but everyone can still be hurt by little things once in a while.

"It's cool. You meant well. I'm going back to the dorm. I need to change before Larxene shows up." Axel replied. Riku nodded and followed him.

Back at the dorm, the two of them found themselves playing video games rather than getting Axel ready. Before they knew it, two whole hours had passed and Axel was going to be late in the next few minutes if he didn't hurry. Quickly, the red haired man threw on a clean shirt and jeans and took off out the door.

"I almost thought you had forgotten." Teased Larxene as he came rushing down the stairs into the main hall. "It's not like you to be late." She was dressed in a black tank top and a matching skirt. Her blonde hair pushed back as usual. Axel silently thanked Riku for throwing a buttoned shirt at him in his rush to get changed.

"I just got caught up helping Riku with his fencing." He lied. It had been two whole hours since then. What he had really been doing was helping Riku finish a boss battle they had been stuck on for a week. Their victory dance had saved him when he had caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall.

"I thought you hated fencing." She remarked, taking his arm and leading him outside.

"I do but he needed the help." Another small lie as Riku had never needed his help at all.

"So where are we going?" Axel asked, steering the conversation away from him. Larxene smiled up at him.

"I thought we could go dancing." She replied. Axel's eyebrows shot up.

"You want to go dancing? Where?"

"Tron's. It's that nightclub downtown." Her smile grew wider. Axel was genuinely surprised. Larxene wasn't usually one for making public appearances. Let alone in a crowded club. He let it slide and climbed into the passenger side of her small car. They had agreed it would be best to take her car because his motorcycle wasn't designed to have passengers. Axel grinned inwardly at the thought of Larxene holding onto the tail of his bike while riding Sora's longboard.

The drive into town was short but mostly quiet. Larxene tried to make small talk but found she wasn't very good at it. Minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a huge building with a large neon blue sign that read "Tron Legacy." Inside, electronic and techno music blared from hidden speakers all around them while various lights danced around to the rhythm, filling the dark club. Larxene tugged Axel to the dance floor immediately. The whole thing seemed odd to him. Never in his life would he have pegged her for a dancer, but there she was.

The whole night played out smoothly. They danced, laughed and even relaxed at the bar. Neither of them old enough to actually drink but it was nice to just sit down for a while. Everything seemed to play out like a normal night, but all good things must come to an end and tonight was no exception. For nearly twenty minutes, Larxene had been stealing glances past Axel. Finally he turned in his barstool to see what she was looking at. Seated at the other end of the bar was a man with black spiked hair and golden eyes. He wore a black and red skin tight t-shirt and jeans. It took a moment to register but once it did, it put Axel in a fowl mood.

"How long were you going to wait to tell me?" He asked Larxene trying to keep the ice out of his voice. Larxene's gaze shot back to Axel in a mixture of confusion, fear and guilt.

"You didn't want to go dancing at all did you?" He continued. Larxene had lost her ability to speak in full sentences.

"I...Axel...he..." She stumbled.

Axel stood up and down the rest of his drink.

"Next time you want to use someone to make your ex jealous, find someone who doesn't know your name." He snarled. He turned and left her at the bar dumbfounded. For weeks rumors had gone around that Larxene was desperate to have her ex, Vanitas, back after a bad break up. When she had asked Axel if he wanted to go out sometime, he had discarded the rumors as just that, rumors. Now he was kicking himself for not thinking twice. Axel left the club and walked home. In a normal story, Axel would have run into a friend on the way home, Sora perhaps. Or maybe someone would pass by and offer him a ride or it would start raining to make the scene all the more upsetting for him. But none of these things happened. Axel just walked home alone under the clear night sky with the street lamps and a sliver of the moon to light his way.

"How was the date?" Asked Sora as Axel closed his dorm room door behind him. Sora had apparently beaten him home and was seated on the edge of Riku's bed, game controller in hand.

"It was wonderful. I saw 37 black cars 12 white ones and 6 red." He replied as it it was the most normal answer to that sort of question. Sora looked at him confused.

"And? What about Larxene?" He pressed.

"Oh I left her ass at Tron's. I figured it was a perfectly suitable way to end the night with a girl who was using someone else to get her ex back." The room was silent save for the music coming from the pause screen on the tv. It was Riku who broke the silence.

"It sounds like you need to vent your frustrations in a violent way. Here, the werewolf Alpha is on the next level." He said handing him the controller. Axel smiled and took the controller, flopping on his bed.


	2. Unstable Terrain

**I'd like to start off with a thank you to the readers and friends that have given me the support and the pick-me-ups I needed to make this story better. I have my drive again and I hope you all really enjoy this one. As always, thank you.**

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Sunday morning finally rolled around but it didn't seem any different than any other day minus the classes. Everyone had made their way outside to avoid being near them. Axel, Sora and Riku sat under the shade of a tree in the front of the school. Two days had passed since Axel's unfortunate night out with Larxene.

"I don't understand why she would have used you of all people." Riku remarked.

"I mean seriously. I'm a hell of a lot hotter than you. And you have red hair." He continued, turning the remark into a joke. Axel rolled his eyes. Riku had droned on about the whole ordeal from the moment Axel had come back to tell them about it. Saying nothing in reply, Axel leaned over and snatched Riku's soda out of his hand. This earned him a startled "hey" just before Axel hucked the bottle across the grass. The result was an irritated glare from Riku to which Axel returned with a half-lidded, unamused stare. Riku stood and trudged off after his drink, muttering something about Axel being a dick-head.

"Was that really necessary?" Asked Sora. Axel shrugged in response.

"If he's focused on picking dirt off the bottle, he'll hopefully shut up about it for a while." Axel replied, taking a drink from his own soda. Riku made his way back to the tree and sat down quietly. Just as Axel had predicted, Riku was too focused on his drink to comment on anything else. This left the trio in relative silence. The surrounding area was filled with life as usual. Nothing was really out of the ordinary. That is until the roar of an engine rolled through the courtyard.

The three friends turned curiously, just like the rest of the school, in time to see a sleek black car stop in front of the school. But that wasn't the engine they had heard. No, what they had heard was what came next. A man in a black motorcycle jacket had just dismounted the most beautiful bike Axel had ever laid eyes on. Slate grey with black racing stripes down either side leading to the rear fender which shot back like a lightning bolt. It was a Lamborghini Caramelo V4 super bike and it had Axel practically drooling. The rider pulled off his helmet to reveal straight black hair smoothed back and cut short to the sides. He unzipped his jacket and killed the engine to his bike before leaving it behind.

The man strode over to the back of the car just as the doors opened. From the front, was a man almost as tall as the biker. He wore a simple button down shirt and slacks. From the back of the car came a woman. She couldn't be older than Axel and was nearly as tall as him. She had blue eyes like ice and long blonde hair that draped down to her waist. She wore a pair of western boots that had obvious signs of wear. Her jeans and t-shirt were form fitting and if one thing was for certain, it was that Axel was no longer interested in the bike.

Back in the dorm room, Axel had been unnaturally quiet. The silence of the room was really starting to bug his friends.

"Dude are you even still conscious?" Asked Sora. Axel nodded and shifted on the bed where he had been sitting.

"Dude I know the bike was nice and all but seriously?" It was Riku this time.

"No, the bike was ok." Axel murmured. Riku and Sora looked at each other in astonishment. Then the two of them, thinking quickly, slapped him clean across the face. This seemed to shake him back into reality because he looked directly at them bewildered.

"What was that for?!" He exclaimed.

"Never in my life have I ever heard you say a bike was 'ok' so what gives?" Riku explained. Axel darted looks between his friends.

"You seriously didn't see her?"

"See who?" Asked Sora.

"The girl that got out of that car?" Axel replied hoping to jog their memory.

"The mayor's daughter? Yeah I see her in town all the time." It was Riku this time.

"Come again?" Axel asked. Riku laughed at this.

"Dude that's the mayor's daughter. She's transferring here. I think she starts tomorrow." Riku explained. When Axel didn't speak he continued.

"She's super rich and she's a model too. She does photo shoots all over the world." It was Sora's turn to look astonished.

"Seriously? How do you know all this?" He asked. Axel wasn't doing much talking anymore so the conversation seemed to only hold the two of them.

"Dude there isn't a living person in town I don't know about. Her name is Rane."

That night, the trio of friends sat in Axel and Riku's dorm as usual as they moved easily through their usual routine, weekend rituals of video games, movies and energy drinks. Sora had opted to crash on the floor that night as his roommate had a visitor. Axel had joked about how Sora secretly enjoyed the thought of a "free show." It was of course a complete joke and made just to get a rise out of him.

"Anyone else want something to drink? I can go to Moogle's corner store." He said getting up to stretch. Riku raised his hand in response, never tearing his eyes from the screen as he hammered away on the game controller.

"Can you grab another pack of Thundaga?" He asked.

"Yeah I drank the last one about an hour ago." Piped Sora beside him. Axel chuckled to himself.

"If you guys drink anymore energy drinks I'm going to have to scrape your charged up remains off the ceiling." He joked. "Anything else?"

"Gummi ships would be great." Sora replied not looking away from the screen either.

A few moments later, Axel climbed out his second story dorm window with a short list of food and various other things they would need to continue on with their weekend. He hopped from the window sill into the tree below, then climbed down the rest of the way. If anyone had seen him, they might have noticed how he completed the whole action with ease as if he had done it often, in which case they would be right. The school had a curfew even on the weekends and Axel, being more agile than his shorter less acrobatic friends, had been voted the designated escape artist employed with the task of late night food runs. A job he had originally protested, but soon enough he came around and hardly thought twice about it but had since remembered to bring a backpack to help carry things back up to the room.

Axel had made it almost halfway across the yard when he heard a familiar sound in the otherwise silence of 2o'clock in the morning. It sounded like something solid grinding across stone. The sound came from behind him and it took him a moment to find its source. After a short moment of searching, he found what he was looking for. Another student was following his lead and climbing out the window of the second story girl's dorm. However this student didn't have a tree to jump into. Instead they were hugging tightly to the side of the building. The sound he heard was boots sliding across the bricks of the building, in an attempt to climb down. Axel had seen this done before and knew what could happen if the student made a wrong move. In fact he knew the outcome on a personal level.

"Left foot lamp post, right foot bricks." He called out quietly as he headed back to the student who in turn froze at the sound of his voice. Then registering the helpful tip, followed the instructions.

"Now left foot archway, right foot drop box." The student continued to follow his directions and soon was on the ground below safely.

"Thanks Axel." Said a familiar male voice. The student flipped back his hood to reveal spiked brown hair and blue eyes.

"Terra?" Axel asked.

"What are you doing?"

"Window washing, what do you think I'm doing? I snuck over to meet the new girl." He said with a small smirk. Axel blinked.

"New girl? Wait, that was Aqua's room." He said doubling back.

"Yeah they're roommates. She's kinda hot too." Terra replied, his smile growing.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Axel tightened the straps on the empty bag on his back and replied.

"Headed to Moogle's. We ran out of drinks." Terra perked up even more at this.

"Mind if I tag along?"

"It's not like I could stop you if I said no." Axel said with a shrug.


	3. The Wager

Moogle's was only three blocks from Twilight Academy, so getting there was no great adventure. However, Axel was finding it as more a game of survival with every word that spilled out of Terra's mouth. That said, Axel was finding it very hard not to tune him out. This isn't to say Terra was annoying, it was just that he had a habit of talking too much and meaning too little. Every once in a while Axel would catch a piece of the one sided conversation.

"...she has a great laugh too..." Was the last of Terra's tangent that Axel heard as he pulled open the door to Moogle's.

Quickly Axel made a beeline for the energy drinks and candy, leaving Terra at the door who actually had stopped talking long enough to go into the restroom. Axel breathed a weary sigh. He liked Terra. He always had. On more than one occasion, the two of them would spend entire days in town flirting with girls or blowing what money they had at the Wonderland Arcade. It was only when Terra would flirt with a girl enough to get some time alone with her that Axel didn't like. Every time he did this, Terra would make a point to avoid the girl afterward and it just didn't seem right.

After paying for the drinks and candy, Axel waited for Terra. He still hadn't come back from the restroom. In no mood to wait, Axel left.

Just like before, Axel's walk home was quiet and uneventful. Thankfully he had grabbed a candy for himself. It was a sandy colored package with a golden lamp on the front. Blue smoke rose from the lamp forming the words "Three Wishes." They were blue gummy Genies covered in a sour powder that crackled in your mouth like PopRocks. It was a cleaver concept and it reminded Axel of all the movies he had ever seen involving a Genie using magic. Finally he made it back to the dorms and started climbing.

"What took you so long?" Asked Riku.

"Yeah seriously, we thought you got caught." Sora added. Axel shrugged and tossed them each a drink.

"I ran into Terra on my way out."

"What was Terra doing out?" Riku asked, his eyebrows knitting together with his question.

"Sneaking out of Aqua's room. Rane is her new roommate." Axel explained. There's was a sharp crack followed by a hiss as he opened a can of Thudaga for himself. Riku followed suit and raised his now open can.

"Well Rane, it was nice knowing ya. I'm sorry we couldn't save you from. The clutches of the school hottie." He said as if she was in the room with them.

"You don't really think Terra would try anything on her do you?" Sora asked. The eyes of his friends fell on him then.

"Dude, it's Terra. Rane is a woman and now she is a woman going to our school. There isn't a girl here he won't try something with." Riku explained to his young friend. Sora looked to Axel for support.

"It's true. He's part of the reason Aqua and I didn't work out." He confirmed, taking another drink.

Sora shook his head.

"I always thought he was a nice guy." He said sadly.

"Oh don't get us wrong, he's an awesome guy. He's just not exactly aware of what he's doing. He's cruel." Axel tried to help.

"That's kind of harsh." Sora countered.

"You misunderstand." Riku jumped in.

"He is like a natural disaster. When a hurricane rips through a coast line, you wouldn't say it was mean, you would call it cruel. It wasn't mean in any way. It was just doing what it's nature tells it too do. He doesn't do what he does with ill intent, he just doesn't see the long term damage." Sora seemed to wrap his head around the concept but still looked sad.

"Can't we help him?" Sora asked.

"Can you help a hurricane?" Axel asked in return. Sora shrugged.

"I see what you mean."

The trio of friends finished the night as any high schoolers, hopped up on energy drinks and video games on a Sunday night would. They crashed mere hours before Axel's cell phone buzzed it's scheduled, weekday alarm. Axel reached over and shut it off, realizing he had forgotten to plug it into it's charger. Sora sat up from the spot on the floor he had claimed as his. His normally spiky hair hadn't changed much save for the whole right side of his head had been pressed flat, giving him a sort of bed head look. Riku on the other hand was already awake and dressed. It was odd seeing him alert before 10am.

Chemistry with Prof. Vexen was first. The demonstration at the front of the class was actually rather interesting to Axel. Vexen was holding a long candle lighter over a coffee can. The can had a single hole punched on the top and bottom and was sitting lid down on the table.

"The gas inside the can isn't nearly as light as helium so it will take it longer to escape. But if I can trap the gas inside the can with a flame." Vexen clicked the lighter on and touched the little flame to the hole on top. The fire caught the gas that was escaping and sat on top of the can for a moment before disappearing inside. When it did, the professor took a large step back. A few seconds later, there was a loud bang and the coffee can of gas exploded. The lid of the can acted as a launch pad sending the can itself into the air. The whole class laughed and clapped. Vexen was a sort of favorite among the students for these little experiments he would perform.

The excitement now over, Axel slid back into his chair and waited for the bell to ring. When it did, the class packed up and left. Axel was about to pass the Fencing hall when he noticed the crowd.

"Axel!" Riku shouted from the crowd. Axel pushed past the other students into the hall.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Terra challenged Marrik to a duel."

"Marrik?"

"The new guy with the sweet bike." Riku explained excitedly. The excitement heard in his voice could be heard in every student around them. Axel remembered Marrik. But he wondered what was so special about the duel. Terra wasn't really all that great. He was a great fencer sure, but he was too predictable. In every duel Axel had seen him in, Terra had always gone straight for the kill. He practically abandon his defense all together.

"So what do you say we raise the stakes a little?" Asked Terra. Marrik shifted his grip on the foil he held and smirked.

"Ok what do you want?" He asked. Marrik's voice was deep but not as intimidating as Axel had anticipated.

"If I win, I get to ask out Rane." Terra said as if there was no other alternative. Marrik smiled over his shoulder at Rane who stood nearby. She shrugged and smiled back. Axel couldn't be sure but he could swear Marrik winked at her as if telling her a joke.

"Ok that's fine." He replied.

"What do you want if I lose?" Terra asked.

"Nothing. I just get the satisfaction of kicking your ass." Marrik taunted. Terra rolled his eyes and slid on his mask. Marrik followed suit, smiling all the while.

The two duelists took their stances on opposite ends of the strip. Presenting their sabers, the duelists shouted, "Allez!" And the duel began. Terra, as expected, was the first to strike. Taking the easy shot, Terra struck out for Marrik's torso but was deflected quickly. Marrik parried the blade and immediately followed with a strike of his own. Grazing his opponents blade, he aimed for the shoulder. Terra feigned right to avoid being hit and shot back straight for Marrik's ribs. His blade was back handed just before it could make any contact. Then Marrik did something every duelist is told not to do. The boy spun a full circle which put him just out of reach and slapped away Terra's blade with his own. The move was so unexpected that, Terra seed a little stunned. Quickly recovering, Terra struck out again and again, each strike quick and precise but none hit their mark. Finally, just as Marrik's saber was about to make contact with Terra's mask, his jacket flashed red. Terra had managed to sneak under Marrik's strike just in time to hit him. The whole thing was over only seconds after it had begun.

"He threw the match." Riku muttered. Axel looked at him puzzled.

"Marrik could have had him three moves ago. He let Terra hit him." Riku explained.

"How do you know? It seemed pretty straight forward to me." Axel replied curiously.

"The angle Marrik struck out with. It was off. It looked like he was trying to hook a basketball."

Axel looked back at the duel that was now over. The two boys had removed their masks and shaken hands. Rane stepped onto the strip between them.

"So I guess I'll pick you up at 8? Say Friday night?" Terra asked with a triumphant smile. Rane smiled back.

"Nope." She said. Terra's smile fell.

"What? But I won." He protested.

"Yes and you wagered the chance to ask me out. Not that I would have to say 'yes' so no." She explained with a laugh and turned to leave. Marrik smiled and followed her out leaving a rather humiliated Terra alone.


End file.
